Begovic was never actually sold to Spurs by Portsmouth as he instead chose to join Stoke at the close of the winter transfer window, yet the London club are still owed a £1 million sell-on fee for the player.

It is believed the clause is a legacy of the deal that was to take both Begovic and Younes Kaboul to White Hart Lane in a dual deal, and the astonishing, and so far inexplicable, fee is included on the full list of creditors which Portsmouth have disclosed in a damning document.

It was revealed on Tuesday that the total amount owed by Pompey to a wide range of creditors is £119 million. However, the fine detail of the list also shows the payment due to Spurs, which Andronikou believes is worthy of a full investigation.

"I don't understand it, and I would say it does need understanding," Andronikou told Soccernet. "I have no idea how a club such as Spurs have this option on one of our former players who was sold to Stoke.

"When it came through to me on a list of football creditors from the Premier League, I immediately raised it as one to score on the sheet to investigate.

"I have forensic abilities to find out exactly what this is all about, and I plan to utilise them. I need to resolve how this came about and why it came about. At the moment, I would only say it is one of the nuances thrown up by all the debts, but this is one in need of an explanation.

"For now I am giving everyone the benefit of the doubt until I receive a full explanation so I can fully examine all the facts. Put it this way, it sure it sticks out."